


Guardian Angel

by ZionAngel



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Stargate Universe, The Tournament (2009)
Genre: F/M, Joseph the Corporeal Pining Priest, Nick the Incorporeal Creeper, Rumpelstiltskin the Incorporeal Sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-16
Updated: 2012-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-12 06:24:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/487710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZionAngel/pseuds/ZionAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In death, Rumpelstiltskin watches over his little Belle as she struggles to love again, not once, but twice.</p>
<p>Based on Bad Faery's "And Again."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guardian Angel

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [And Again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/459116) by [Bad_Faery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_Faery/pseuds/Bad_Faery). 



> This is a Fic-Inception of Bad Faery’s “And Again,” in which Belle lost Rum, went aboard Destiny and fell in love with Nick (Robert Carlyle in Stargate Universe), lost him, and then ended up in England with Father MacAvoy (Robert Carlyle in The Tournament). Faery was going on and on about Nick the Incorporeal Creeper, and he gets mentioned a lot in the fic, and I just needed Rumples too. For reals. He may be fully dead instead of ascended like Nick, but you can bet he’s still watching out for his little Belle. Therefore, I present you with this.

In death, Rumpelstiltskin finds that a great many things fall away, but the important things remain.

He dies in Belle’s arms, full of rage and fear and anger at Regina and the world for separating him from True Love, for forcing her to watch him die and live without him.  But all in an instant, those trivial and fleeting things are gone, and all that matters is Belle’s love, which he feels more now than ever, and her sorrow, which now cuts him as deeply as if it were his own.

He feels only love and pride as he watches his little Belle stand and fight and protect others until Regina is finally finished once and for all, in spite of her heartbreak.  He feels relief when goes on with her head still held high, brave and determined not to let her loss end her.

In death, he finds that he knows and understands things in a way he never did before, even with centuries of strategizing and precognition.  So, he does not quite go looking for someone for her to love, but when life takes her near Nicholas Rush, he knows before they even meet how desperately she will love him.  His Belle isn’t ready to love again, he knows, but he also knows what is to come for the scientist, and knows that it is now or never.  He finds that, from where he is, he can give things a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Rumpelstiltskin is not jealous of the other man, not when he meets her, not when she develops the same fondness for his eccentric character that she did for him, not when they are trapped together on the other side of the universe and they hold each other for the first time, both desperate for comfort.  He doesn’t feel things like jealousy anymore, and even if he did, there is no need for it.  He loves his Belle, and wants nothing more than for her to find happiness and love again.  She deserves nothing less.

He watches and waits patiently as they both fight and try so desperately not to fall in love.  He, of all people, knows how hard it can be to accept love.  When she finally gives up and gives in, her happiness fills him like his own.  When she finally finds a way to move on, and admits to herself just how hopelessly in love with Nick she is, he isn’t sure if the relief he feels is hers or his own.

He knows what will happen to Nick shortly before it actually does.  As much as he tries to stop it, he finds that one of his gentle nudges simply isn’t enough to keep Belle’s heart from breaking a second time.  For all that he wishes he could, he can’t shield her from the pain and heartache and loneliness, and it overwhelms him as wholly as it does her.

When Nick is there, somewhere between Belle’s plane and his afterlife, he and Rumpelstiltskin find a kind of mutual purpose and respect.  Their worlds are not so close that they can meet, but close enough that each knows of the other, close enough to work together to watch over their little Belle, and help her together.  It pains them both so terribly, he knows, to see her so sad and withdrawn, to see their brave little Belle so afraid of her own heart, to see her blaming herself for her pain and their ends.  It pains them to see her traveling to every corner of the world in an adventure so grand her younger self never could have dreamed of, and yet want only to find a place to hide from it all.

But even as broken and hopeless as she feels, his sweet Belle remains as brave and strong as always, even if she can’t even see it in herself.  And Rumpelstiltskin knows her so very well, so he knows that if she has someone else to heal, someone else to put back together, she’ll find the strength to let herself heal.  And if the one she heals wants to love and heal her in return, all the better.  Nick is not as fond of Joseph, but even he cannot deny the love blooming in Belle’s heart from the very moment she meets him.

Again he watches as she hides from her own heart, tries to avoid feeling pain by feeling nothing at all, pretends she doesn’t love Joseph, and tries to leave again and again.  But the woman he loves is batteed and broken and as strong as she ever was, and he cannot help but smile when she throws her doubts to the wind and does the brave thing before the bravery yet again.  It has served her heart well twice before, and it brings her love and happiness a third time.  He feels her relief and desperation and elation and joy when she finally lets herself love Joseph.

He wants for very little in death.  But the one thing he wants, _needs_ more than anything, is for Belle to know how very much she is still loved, will always be loved, to know that none of it was her fault, to know the pure and utter joy she gave him, and to open her heart again so that it can fill with love and heal.  His heart and soul are forever bound to hers, as they are to Bae’s, as hers is to Nick’s as well, will be to Josephs, and he knows that however many hearts she binds herself to, her connection with his will never fade.  He will never love her any less in death, and even when her love for his is no longer a part of her everyday life, he knows she will never love him any less, either.

In death, Rumpelstiltskin finds something new – a pure and true love untainted by fear or pain, and full of nothing but peace and happiness.


End file.
